There are 43 acres of woodland by the ring road - why isn't this a city centre park?

Nestled on the corner of the city’s clogged-up ring road sits a yellow gate, out of keeping with the rest of its surroundings.

It’s by the Medlock — one of the city’s three founding rivers — but you wouldn’t be able to see it, even if you were stuck in the worst of Mancunian Way’s rush-hour traffic.

Behind that, there is a huge 43 acre woodland which goes by various names: Pin Mill Brow, Medlock Way, the Lower Medlock Valley, or Medlock Vale. For a city that’s one of the worst for green space in the UK, it’s a much-needed ‘jewel’ for residents, a valuable habitat, and plays a vital role in combating pollution.

So why isn’t it a park?

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That’s the question a group of volunteers are asking — and are making the case that Manchester needs this space to thrive. To that end, they’ve stopped fly-tippers, warded off anti-social dirt bike riders, and even created a sculpture trail from scratch — including Manchester’s own answer to Stonehenge.

“We love this area,” Dave O’Rourke says. He’s showing the Manchester Evening News around the site.

“It’s our crown jewel and we want to come and enjoy it,” the 49-year-old builder from Beswick continues. “I used to play here in the rubble. It’s a jewel for the city of Manchester. It does not need nice mown lawns. It needs to be woodland.”

The blueprint, Dave’s colleague David Bailey says, is not far from here. The lecturer adds: “The model is Clayton Vale.

“It will be managed, and we would get rid of invasive spaces, install boundaries and get signs up. Some new railings would be good, too.”

To show they’re serious about change, the group have taken on a DIY